Allowing myself to be driven crazy by misuse of "the 4th" as the name for our holiday. The holiday is Independence Day, it has that name for a specific reason, hint: there's a founding document with a similar name. Every time people refer to it as the calendar reference it diminishes the significance of why we celebrate it.
This is going to sound crazy, but every year I spend a few minutes and read the Declaration of Independence as a holiday ritual. It reminds me why we are an Independent people, that all of humanity has natural, unalienable rights (life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness) granted to us by our Creator. As humankind we institute governments and empower them only by our consent, as those who are governed. As a free and independent people, we should always be vigilant against those who would seek to deprive us of those rights. It is our responsibility to defend those rights for future generations. We should be willing to pledge our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor for that cause.
So I challenge you to take on that same simple five minute ritual and read the document (here's a link:
Declaration of Independence at National Archives). Then ask yourself why would anyone call it the 4th, when doing so rings as hollow as referring to Christmas as "winter holiday" or simply as "December 25th".
Rant over... stepping off the soapbox.
Happy Independence Day to all!